Digital Soldiers

The devastating flash floods in Jammu & Kashmir considered as Kashmirs worst floods in 60 years affecting around 2600 villages is really shocking. While there is agreement over the fact that there was negligence on the part of state government for not issuing timely warnings and just sitting on its disaster managment plans. Though there are many lessons to be learnt for the future, but we must also assess the positives. The valiant efforts of army cannot be overlooked. The army transformed into humanitarian agency resucing nearly a lakh marooned residents. The most surprising was the selfless service of digital soldiers on social media. They have emerged as unlikely heroes in flood rescue as they helped in saving thousands of stranded people. The formation of the website called JKFloodRelief and a Twitter handle (#jkfloodrelief) by a delhi based group provided useful information to the Indian Army and the National Disaster Managment Authority. They reached out to people in kashmir to list the items like food, medicine, insulin, blankets etc they needed most. The group effectively